Corporate Style Faith Systems

Any man-fashioned faith system is basically designed as a power structure: it is not unfaulteringly assembled for the benefit of mass spiritual enlightenment but designed to assert the faith system’s authority. Like any commercial endeavor the service that is offered is gauged by customer demand, and commercial demand is stirred by advertising. In the faith business the product is basically a manufactured illusion: the merchandise offered is emotional assurance that a higher power looks after them–but that power supposedly functions only if the subscribers submit, obey and partake of all the rites, rituals and ceremonies that the self-appointed authorities have set in place for business use. Consequently those formalized procedures are cleverly fashioned to appeal to the ego of the seekers, not purposefully crafted to empower everyone’s personal connection (called “spirit”) to Creation’s Source.

Principles of righteous conduct are comparatively self evident to any balanced mind: seek understanding, control avarice, value individuality, honor love, demonstrate compassion, respect all life’s diversities, recognize that all things are interrelated, etc. For the most part the three networks of corporate styled “faith” systems of today’s western cultures choose to market the principles of “belief” by claiming to possess direct favoritism of a compassionate Creator-God. The general work ethic of these three sister faith systems, however, is to force their formalized concepts of God-Creator upon everyone else, which results only in constant conflicts. Thus for each of these corporate styled faith systems, their calls to devotion happen to exploit identical un-righteous principles that happen to resist Creation’s intended diversities. Achieving “dominion” over life’s diversity is the subliminal message buried within every man-written “sacred” text, and that faith system obsession is often the excuse for fundamentalists to annihilate whatever they fail to understand. That strategy is commonly exhibited in attempting to obstruct knowledge, curtail science, stifle natural desires, limit consideration for others, belittle intimate pleasures—in short, restructure everyone to a robotic religionist.

What is the architectural foundation for this? It is the concept of monotheism, a doctrine that there is only one Creator-God, who is characterized as male, of course. That concept permits erecting a business machine under the assertion that the all-embracing, all-inclusive power which created and sustains everything then unexplainably censored himself to play favorites with segments of the human species. This is a tactic which is then buttressed by utilizing man’s fear of death which further allows the charlatans to peddle their faith system’s insurance policy which is averred to offer seekers a glorious afterlife in a cloud-lined country club atmosphere–but only if they follow the rules.

The three self-serving monotheistic faith systems of western cultures could never survive as controlling powers if the peace and brotherly love to which they give much lip service was faithfully practiced. Instead the self-appointed representatives of Heaven incite the egos of seekers with false notions of exclusive access to the all-inclusive Creator. Peace and brotherly love happen to make for a limited meal ticket if such tolerance was actually allowed to be demonstrated by followers, for that would allow seekers to truly embark upon achieving personal alignment with universal powers. Such true freedom of spirit would deprive the self-proclaimed god-ambassadors of their public image as individuals who assert to have been heavenly approved for godly service. Each of these three corporate styled faith systems claim to teach love, tolerance and peace, but curiously after nearly three thousand years of these sugary claims the world has not yet witnessed any proof of such divine conduct on their part. Instead, all three of these by-the-book religions systems have to resort to whitewashing and disguising their bloody histories of violence, practiced prejudices, deceits, contrived theatrical ceremonies, and similar excesses of shameless spiritual pretentiousness. With these pretentions each of these faith systems have shamelessly taught seekers to hate the intended diversities of life expressions.

When some faith system then attains some political clout it inevitably slides into the sensuous “sins” of brutal power management which they legitimatize by quoting cherry-picked verses from their own priest crafted holy books. For example, does not the Hebrew Bible attest that God urged the Israelites, his “chosen people”, to slaughter the inhabitants of Canaan to attain the “Promised Land”–as reportedly executed by Joshua? And for the promoters of Gospel, was not Europe brought into Gods’s favor by use of torture and fiery destruction of life during the Inquisition by self-proclaimed representatives of the Prince of Peace? And does not the Quran avow that Allah (the merciful) sent hordes of angels to slay opponents of Mohammad’s possession of Mecca? Such is the deceptive propaganda preached by all “holy word” aficionados. The justification given for such acts of brutal domination is always in the name of a prejudiced holy spirit. Nowhere in such faiths is the truth ever acknowledged that each and every thing is manifested through and from one Source, and that each and all things are therefore interrelated and stand equal before that creative Power. There is, of course, no ego manipulation in teaching that, and thus there is little material profit in admitting the truth of impartiality before that Creative Source.

It has been noted elsewhere in these postings that regional conditions shaped and colored the spiritual teachings which were worked into the political governance of tribal styled stability. Thus today, to the Jews and Muslims, God is still promoted as something like a bellicose tribal leader, and to those “others” who are not of his implied favored people the Creative Principle supposedly decreed “cut them off.” For example, Psalms 118:10 (among many interpretations) “…all nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off…” In Christian faith, which was conceived and nourished in the militant Roman Empire, God is viewed more as a commander-in-chief, with priests, bishops, ministers, preachers, etc. placed in charge like combat commanders over the lower ranks.

How glaringly different are the by-the-book dogmatism practiced in the western culture’s faith systems today when compared to the much belittled way the Pagans approached spiritual understanding. Pagan understanding was that spiritual things are highly personal and meant to be experienced by each person individually. The reason why Pagans did not actively solicit others to join their particular sect was the belief that the impulse for spiritual enlightenment must originate within the person himself. It was not viewed as a commercial subject. The Pagans knew that the first place of any person’s spiritual preparation had to arise within one’s own heart. Spiritual preparation, they understood, was not something acquired through exterior pressures. To the Pagan, regardless of which small sect he or she might be drawn to, it was always accepted that those in any superior position were like elder brethren who, just like the postulant, were sharing in a similar search for divine enlightenment.

Today such spiritual freedom has been placed upon the altars of corporate styled faith systems which reflect more spiritual greed than any dedication to true spiritual enlightenment. Modern day corporate structured faith systems seek only to impose dogmatism which reduces one’s inner spiritual yearning to hostage status that is held for ransom.